Discontent City planning rally in response to Soldiers of Odin march in Nanaimo

An “emergency counter-rally” is being planned in response to a scheduled march by the Soldiers of Odin this weekend in Nanaimo.

Organizers and advocates of Discontent City and Alliance Against Displacement have scheduled an emergency rally for Sunday at 1 p.m. It will take place in front of Discontent City, located on 1 Port Drive.

The rally is in response to a planned march from Discontent City to Nanaimo City Hall on Sunday by the Soldiers of Odin Vancouver Island and Action Against Discontent City, a group of residents upset with occupants of the homeless camp.

“We are rallying to show that Nanaimo does not tolerate racism or anti-homeless hate. The City of Nanaimo and the RCMP have shown that they are part of the problem of hate and violence, so our communities have to defend ourselves,” said Kevin Donaghy, rally organizer and tent city advocate, in a press release.

Nanaimo Mayor Bill McKay told the News Bulletin the city is extremely concerned about the planned events on Sunday, but stressed that people should remain calm and let cooler heads prevail.

“We need to understand that everyone needs to be calm and rational here,” McKay said.

McKay said residents of Nanaimo are becoming increasingly agitated by the latest developments. He also said the Nanaimo RCMP will be bringing additional officers and resources to monitor the events at Discontent City on Sunday.

“RCMP are well aware of it and they will dispatch the resources to the site to monitor the situation as they see fit,” McKay said.

Calls to Donaghy and other Discontent City organizers were not returned.